In the training field, silence hung heavy, like the breath of death.
Every single soul present—be it commoners or nobles, even those with ulterior motives—found themselves plunged into a state of bewilderment and shock, unable to react at the moment.
Yuri and the Alderman, representatives of their respective groups, stared wide-eyed at the scene unfolding in the center of the training field. They watched as Jill lay flat before Riezel, who held a bright silver short sword in his hand, his sudden action leaving everyone stunned.
It took a moment before the audience erupted.
"Wh-What's going on?!"
"Did he... kill the guy?"
"Murder?"
"Did he just break the rules?"
These were the immediate questions in everyone's mind. Only a few individuals, shaken from their stupor, rose to their feet.
Marilyn, Ain, and Ian wore cold expressions, their gazes piercing across to the Alderman's side.
Yet on the Alderman's side, apart from Sefaz, who remained silent and uninterested, the rest wore expressions of confusion and disbelief.
"Wh-What happened?" Alderman was at a loss.
"Something seems off here."
After muttering that, the young nobleman who had been lounging among the honored guests suddenly stood up.
"Elder Sister Mediste, what's going on?" Isaac was completely flustered.
"I... I don't know either..." Mediste appeared equally puzzled.
Eventually, the murmurs of the audience began to rise, confused by the sudden turn of events.
However, at this moment, Riezel in the center of the training field moved once more.
*BOOM!*
With an explosive sound, Riezel forcefully kicked out in front of him, sending a cloud of dust billowing into the air.
His foot aimed straight for Jill's head as if intent on crushing it like a melon.
Unfortunately, the blow never landed.
Just as Riezel's merciless kick was about to connect, Jill, still lying on the ground, suddenly sprang to life with no warning. Like a wild beast on all fours, he swiftly darted backward with incredible agility and speed, narrowly evading Riezel's attack.
"He's alive!"
"That guy is alive!"
Seeing this, the audience erupted into gasps.
Jill, bathed in the exclamations of others, was on all fours on the ground, his head hanging down, unable to discern his expression.
In this state, surprisingly, the bleeding from his chest had already stopped, and the wound wasn't as deep as everyone imagined.
However, as everyone looked at Jill like this, for some reason, a chill crept into their hearts.
"That swordsman is indeed as Riezel described, something's off..."
At this moment, even Yuri, usually slow to catch on, sensed that something was amiss. Not just her, but everyone else too, sensed something peculiar about Jill from this moment onwards.
A chilling sensation rose in the hearts of many, causing their gazes upon Jill, on all fours with blood seeping from his chest, to gradually resemble those of someone observing an injured wild beast.
Only Riezel, with an indifferent expression, looked at Jill calmly.
"Aren't you going to stop playing dead?"
Riezel's somewhat mocking remark didn't elicit a response from Jill. He remained on all fours, with his head bowed, only raising one hand to touch his chest.
"It hurts... it hurts... it hurts... it hurts... it hurts..."
Jill's voice, faint as if in a trance, intensified the eerie feeling in everyone's hearts. He began to stare at his hand, staring at the blood on it for a while before suddenly laughing like a maniac.
"So, my blood is red too, huh...?"
"Red... vibrant... and warm!"
"Hehehe... Hahahahahahahaha—!"
Over time, the laughter from the blood-stained swordsman grew louder, eerie, and chilling until, after a while, his voice abruptly stopped.
He forcefully lifted his head, his tightly closed eyes suddenly opening.
Surprisingly, the whites of his eyes were entirely crimson, like the eyes of a demon.
"IT! HURTS! YOU BASTAAARD—!"
Jill roared, his figure flashing, bursting forth.
*Whoosh—!*
His speed was even faster than the attack on Riezel at the beginning of the scene, several times faster!
*DING!*
Jill's sword cleaved down, carrying with it ear-piercing sonic bursts, forcefully striking against Riezel's bright silver short sword, causing a resounding clang like a struck bell.
Riezel raised his short sword, blocking Jill's swift strike head-on, his gaze still as cold as before.
"Hahahaha!"
Jill laughed out loud, his single-edged sword in hand turning into countless afterimages, attacking Riezel with astonishing speed.
*Clang!* *Cling!* *Clang!* *Cling!*
The intense metal collision sound rang out instantly.
Riezel's sword clashed extremely fast with Jill's sword, causing the collision sound to continue without stopping.
Their figures disappeared on the spot, turning into two ghostly afterimages, entangling with each other, darting around the field, engaging in intense combat.
*Clang!* *Cling!* *Clang!* *Cling!*
In an instant, sparks flew, strong winds swept through, and dust and sand seemed to be stirred up like flying debris, turning the entire training field into what resembled a battlefield, as if thousands of troops were charging, swirling up clouds of dust and smoke.
Some people were left stupefied by the scene.
Some were thrown into chaos by it.
Whether the audience or directly involved participants in the War Festival, as they watched Riezel and Jill's intense battle, not a single one didn't wear a bewildered expression.
"He... He..."
Even the young nobleman from the royal capital, upon witnessing Riezel engaging in fierce combat with Jill, was left with a blank expression.
"Isn't he supposed to be a magician...?"
This was the first thought of many who knew Riezel's identity.
What did they see?
They saw the Tactical-Class Magician they were paying attention to now engaging in intense close combat as a swordsman!
The intensity of this close combat and the power it carried, was even more terrifying than the earlier fierce battle between Marilyn and Sefaz, two expert Sword Masters!
Riezel Brynhart, was this young man actually not a Tactical-Class Magician but a Sword Master?
Was the intelligence mistaken?
However, this thought was immediately proven wrong in the next moment.
"Unleashed streak of light, bow limbs of the holy tree. You are an expert of the bow."
"Shoot, sniper of the fairies."
"Penetrate, arrow of absolute accuracy."
A cold chanting emerged between the two fighters, causing a thick concentration of magical energy to gather in Riezel's hand.
"Arcs Ray!"
With a flick of his sword, Riezel unleashed a light arrow from his hand in an extremely fast swoop, turning the unforeseeable light arrow into artillery fire, blasting toward Jill without mercy.
Jill reacted swiftly, his figure bounding like a wild beast, darting back and forth on the ground, jumping extremely fast to evade the incoming barrage.
However, the light arrow transformed into a beam of light and continued to chase after him relentlessly, no matter how he jumped or changed direction, it pursued him steadfastly, tearing through space, leaving behind long trails of light.
Before long, Jill was caught up by the beam of light.
*BOOOM!*
An astounding explosion occurred in the split second when the beam of light hit Jill.
Flames erupted, engulfing Jill's body, raging in the training field, illuminating not only the entire field but also the stunned faces of the audience.
Everyone was either shocked, bewildered, or trembling as they gazed at Riezel.
Especially Sefaz, Alderman, Isaac, Mediste, and some unknown guests.
Finally grasping an unbelievable fact, they all stood up in tandem.
"What the heck?! He's actually both a swordsman and a magician?!"
"A Sword Master and a Tactical-Class Magician? You can't be serious... Man, this is bullshit..."
"Holy shit!"
Countless exclamations broke the silence of the audience seats.
"A Sword Master and a Tactical-Class Magician..."
On the VIP seats, the attendant of the young nobleman wore a look of disbelief.
"Th-This can't be true, right...?" The young nobleman trembled, murmuring incessantly. "Am I seeing this right? He's not just a Tactical-Class Magician but also a Sword Master?"
Meanwhile, Isaac, who watched also had his eyes widened in disbelief. Not just him, even Mediste's pair of beautiful eyes were wide open.
'What a surprise, I thought she was holding a ghost card, turns out it's a deadly knife hidden up her sleeve?' Sefaz cast his gaze toward Yuri across the training field.
In contrast, Alderman was utterly stupefied.
The successive occurrences had surpassed the ability of this old-fashioned former head of the Frenzel family to handle, leaving him unable to react at all for the moment.
In the entire training field, only Yuri's group remained indifferent to the situation. In fact, she even gave instructions to Marilyn and the others.
"Clear the audience! Quickly!"
She had a feeling that whatever happened next would be dangerous enough to threaten the audience. Driven by this intuition, she decided to evacuate the audience while already beginning to chant her magic, ready to act at any moment.
Meanwhile, the two in the center of the training field had again entered intense combat.
"Hahahaha!"
Jill burst out from the exploding flames, his skin burnt and blistered all over, yet he laughed cheerfully, his eyes glowing red as he charged toward Riezel again.
"I must have your blood! Give me your blood! Give me your blood!"
Jill raved and roared, his sword slashing like a storm, while waves of blood-like crimson magical energy emanated from his body.
Empowered by this crimson magical energy, Jill's attacks seemed even stronger, each strike forcing Riezel to retreat.
As Riezel defended against Jill's attack, his expression inevitably grew increasingly serious.
Meanwhile, as Yuri witnessed this scene, she momentarily paused her chanting of magic. As she gazed at Jill's figure bathed in crimson magical energy, she soon remembered something and then muttered a name.
"Demon Sword Style..."
Finally, she understood what was wrong with Jill.